Takht-i-Sulayman ovvero le radici iraniche del Graal

The article explores the hypothesis that the medieval Grail legend has deep roots in ancient Iranian culture, centered on the archaeological site of Takht-i-Sulayman (the "Throne of Solomon") in northwestern Iran. The site, located in the region of ancient Media Atropatene, features an oval natural platform rising about 60 meters above a fertile valley, dominated by a volcanic lake fed by a constant, seemingly bottomless water source. This remarkable geological setting made it a sacred place from Achaemenid times onward. The city of Shīz, as it was historically known, became one of the most important religious centers of the Sasanian Empire. It housed the Ātur Gushnasp, the sacred fire of the warrior aristocracy and the royal dynasty, and served as the site of royal coronation ceremonies. The cult combined fire worship with a deep veneration of water, linked to the goddess Anāhitā, dispenser of fertility and life. Moriggi argues that Takht-i-Sulayman was regarded in Iranian cosmology as the center of the world — the hub of the terrestrial wheel from which primordial waters spring — mirroring the role Jerusalem played in Christian geography. The rivalry between these two sacred centers intensified in the 7th century, particularly through the episodes of the capture and return of the True Cross between Sasanian and Byzantine powers. Drawing on the work of Swedish scholar Lars-Ivar Ringbom, the author highlights striking parallels between the Grail temple described in medieval literature and the palace-sanctuary of Cosroe at Shīz, including architectural similarities and the shared motif of an inexhaustible, life-giving vessel. These convergences suggest that key Iranian religious and symbolic elements — the bottomless lake, the emerald dome, the cult of Anāhitā — were transmitted westward and woven into the medieval Grail cycle, particularly through Christian reinterpretation.